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` (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. E. WIGZELL.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 554,966. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

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(No Model.) l 4 sheets-sheet 2. E. E. WIGZELL.

STEAM ENGINE. No. 554,966. Patented Peb. 18, 1896.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-A-Sl-let' 3. E. E. WIGZELL. 1

STEAM ENGINE. Y N0. 554,966. l' Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

E. E. WIGZBLL.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 554,966. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

EUSTACE ERNEST WIGZELL, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,966, dated February18, 1896.

Application filed July 3l, 1895. Serial No. 557,747. (No moclel.)Patented in England November 20, 1894,1T0. 22,447, and in FranceNovember 22, 1895,1To. 249,192.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, EUSTACE ERNEST WIG- ZELL, engineer, of BilliterI-Iouse, Billiter Street, London, a subject of ller Majesty the Queen ofGreat Britain and Ireland, and a resident of High Road, in the county ofEssex, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement linSteam-Engines, (patented to me in England by Letters Patent No. 22,447,dated November 20, 1894, and in France by Letters Patent No. 249,192,dated July 26, 1895 and issued November 22, 1895,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

In my improved engine I place two or more cylinders in a line at rightangles to a threethrow crank-shaft, and in each cylinder I use twopistons working in opposite directions with reference to each other andcoupled to the several cranks by means of T-shaped or triangularconnections, each of which is common to the series of cylinders. Suchtriangular connections, as they are hereinafter termed, have heretoforebeen used to connect a single series of pistons in a triple-expansionengine with one and the same crank. In the present arrangement athree-throw crankshaft is utilized, and the steam in each cylinder actsthrough its pair of pistons and the appropriate connections on all thecranks. The advantages of such an engine are perfect balance, theup-and-down strains being equalized and vibrations overcome; uniformpower throughout each revolution of the crankshaft; adaptation for highspeed; smaller diameters of cylinders for any given power, andconsequently the occupation of less space, and a reduction of the numberof working parts in a plant of given power, a single tripleexpansionengine built on my improved principle having the equivalent of sixcylinders.

In order that my invention may be the better understood, I now proceedto describe the same in relation to four sheets of drawings heretoannexed, reference being had to the letters marked thereon.

Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations of the improved engine, partlyin section, in planes at right angles to each other. Fig. 3

- is a side view from the same direction as Fig.

1, with some of the parts shown in Fig. 1 omitted, and with thelink-motions of two of the three valves of the engine representeddiagrammatically. Fig. 4 is a detail, partly in section, in a planeparallel to that of Fig.

'2; and Fig. 5 is a plan view illustrating the distribution of steam tothe three cylinders.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

The drawings represent a triple-expansion engine with three cylinders AB C placed at right angles to a three-throw crank-shaft D. In each ofthe cylinders I employ two pistons E and E', F and F', and G and G,which work in opposite directions with reference to each other in eachcylinder.

The piston-rods H of the three bottom pistons E, F, and G pass throughstuffing-boxes I at the bottom of the cylinders, and are connectedrespectively by their rods to guideblocks J, K, and L. The two outsideguideblocks J and L are joined by short links M and N to two workingcenters of a triangular connection B'. Such triangular connection may beT-shaped, as shown, or of any convenient shape, and of one part, asshown, or of two or more parts, its essential characteristic being thatsaid working centers andthe center ofthe crank-wrist if joined togetherby a line would form a triangle. The three centers of said connection Bare shown at O F Q' in Fig. 1. The central guide-block K is coupled tothe triangular connection B directly at Q, Fig. 1, and the apex Q of theconnection is coupled to the central crank of the three-throwcrank-shaft, as shown at R in Fig. 2.

The top pistons, E', F', and G', have pistonrods S passing throughstuiiing-boxes T in the top cylinder-covers, and at the top ends ofthese piston-rods respectively there are crossheads U, V, and W. Thecross-head V, belonging to the piston E', as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3,is connected by rods X, which pass on each side of the cylinder Atoguide-blocks VY connected by way of the middle centers of triangularconnections A' to the side cranks Z of the three-throw crank-shaft. Thecrossheads U and W, Figs. 3 and 4, are coupled respectively byconnecting-rods C and H directly to the outer centers of said triangularconnections A', said rods working at the sides of the cylinders B and C,respectively, and

IOO

said triangular connections A working on each side of the aforesaidtriangular eonnection B', Fig. l. These parts are so disposed that whenthe middle crank R, Fig. 2, of the three-throw crankshaft D is at itstop center and the side cranks E are at their bottom centers all thepistons are in the middle of their respective cylinders A, B, and C.

In Figs. 2, 3, and 5 I show a inode of opening and closing the ports forthe admission of steam and the exhaust. For this purpose I prefer usingat the cylinders A, B, and C, respectively, piston-valves X2-B3 C4, eachhaving three pistons B2 C2 D2, as shown at the plane of section in Fig.2. The valve B2 is here shown with the steam passing in at E2 betweenthe two pistons E and E' of the cylinder A, while the exhaust from thetop and bottom of these cylinders is passing out at the two ports F2, asrepresented by arrows in the ligure. The valves A2, B3, and C areconnected with each other by steam-passages I', Figs. 3 and 5, and thevalve C4 is connected with the steam-outlet by passages J. The admissionof steam, its transfer from cylinder to cylinder under the control ofsuch valves, and its final exhaust are represented by ar rows in Figs. 3and 5, and means for actuating the valves is representeddiagrammatically in Fig. 3. A pair of crank-shafts are represented at Kin this ligure; a pair of or* dinary link-motions coupled to saidcrankshafts are represented at L rods connecting said crank-shaftsrespectively to the rods of the piston-valves B and C4 are representedat M', and a pair of eccentries on the crankshaft D for actuating saidlink-motions are represented at N. The valves A2, Figs. 2 and 5, may beworked in substantially the same way directly from the crank-shaft D bymeans of one or two eccentrics on the latter, in customary manner.

It will be understood that I do not confine myself to any particularkind of valve, or to any mode of working the valves for the inlet andoutlet of steam to and from the respective cylinders. Slide-valves orCorliss Valves may, for example, be substituted for pistonvalves, andother like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in theart.

I-Iaving thus described the said improvement, I claim as my inventionand desire to patent under this specificationl. A triple-expansionsteam-engine having two pistons working in opposite directions in eachof its three cylinders, a three-throw crank-shaft, a central triangularconnection interposed between the rods of one set of pistons, and themiddle crank of said crankshaft, and like triangular connections,together with connecting-rods and cross-heads, connecting the rods ofthe other set of pistons with the outer cranks of said crank-shaft,substantially as hereinbefore specified.

2. In a steam-engine, the combination with a three-throw crank-shaft andcylinders placed in aline at right angles to said crankshaft of twopistons working in opposite directions in each cylinder, a centraltriangular connection interposed between the rods of one set of pistonsand the middle crank of said crank-shaft, and like triangularconnections, together with connecting-rods and crossheads, connectingthe rods of the other set of pistons with the outer cranks of saidcrankshaft, substantially as hereinbefore speci lied.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this `specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EUSTACE ERNEST TIGZELL fitnessesz HENRY NEWTON, J'. W. HoUGH.

